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Last Time on Rinpunzel:

Rinpunzel, Rin for short, is a sorceress has been imprisoned by Akito, the evil witch, for her entire life. Her peasant parents are dead, and her only friend, Kagura, has been taken away. She meets Haru, and they soon fall in love each other, but they have not confessed their feelings. Akito has caught Haru visiting Rin, and threatens punishment for their transgressions…

Rinpunzel (Part 4)

By Kisa44

There was silence for a few moments as Akito's words resounded around the room. Rin's eyes widened as the severity of the words the witch had uttered registered within her. Oh no, she thought, She's going to hurt Haru!

Akito placed her wine glass on the table and stood up, pushing off of the table. She said in a perky voice, "Why, hello, Lord Hatsuharu, I haven't seen you since that bitch stole my throne! To think we would meet in such a situation!" Hatsuharu paled as she walked around him, until she was facing him. She placed her hands lightly on his chest. "And as handsome as ever! My, my, I can see why Rin went for you!"

Rin shook in a mix of fear and anger. Akito returned to face both Rin and Haru. "I do not care who began this little tryst," she said mockingly. "You will both be punished for your impudence."

Akito raised her hands, and a black light blinded everyone in the room. Haru's vision went dark, and he crashed on the floor. Rin shouted, "Haru!" and ran to where he still laid on the ground. "What did you do to him?" Rin asked, worried for her love's welfare.

"I cursed him. When he wakes, he will not be able to see anything. But, worse, he will not even be able to notice you. You could scream at him for hours and he would never even hear your voice. You could punch him, and he wouldn't even feel it. He has forgotten all about his past."

Akito grabbed Haru's shirt collar and yanked him out of Rin's reach. She muttered a few words and disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Rin behind. It was then that she began to cry.

A few days passed. Rin was stuck. She cried into her pillow and generally moped. It was then that she decided to find a way to solve her problems. She decided to go into Akito's private rooms. Akito had never allowed anyone to go into them, thus their name: the private rooms. It was locked with about five padlocks. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on unlocking the door but nothing happened. She opened her eyes and frowned. Rin took a lock pick out of her pocket and began to pick the first lock.

Twenty minutes later, the final lock was undone. Rin thought about how lucky she was that she had Kagura when she was younger. She opened the door and it opened with a creak. All was dark in the room. She snapped her fingers, and the candles lit, illuminating the room with a warm glow.

The cluttered room had books stacked in the shelves and on all of the surfaces in the chamber. Paper seemed to be scattered at random around the room. On the walls, there were posters of disturbing images. Grotesque monsters, brutally disfigured people were depicted. At the bottom of each poster it read: "These are the effects of ______________" and a magical term would be named.

Rin took a deep breath and stepped inside the room, knowing that this is where she would find her answers.

Haru lay in darkness. He couldn't see a thing. He tried to open his eyes, but it was as if they were glued shut. He felt the padding of a bed beneath him, and called out, "Hello? Is anyone there?"

Padded footsteps approached from outside in the hallway. Then, the door opened. A woman's voice asked, "Dear, are you awake?"

Haru said, "Yes…but why can't I see?"

"I'M SO SORRY! I MUST HAVE CAUSED THIS AFFLICTION! WHERE DID I GO WRONG?! I'M SO SORRY!" the woman screamed.

Haru sat up, "I'm sure you didn't." He smiled softly in the general direction of the woman's voice. "Where am I?"

"You are in a small village in an inn called the Monkey's Inn. I am the keeper of this inn; you can call me Okami-san. You have been asleep for several days. We have your things, but we haven't looked through them. Young traveler…who are you and where did you come from?"

Haru paused for a moment and said, "I can't remember."

Time passed and Haru's condition had not changed.

He was allowed to remain at the inn, and had become friends with the ever-apologetic Ritchan-san and his mother. In exchange for his room and board, he did simple jobs around the inn. He was unsure how he was ever going to repay them for their kindness.

He had also become friends with a few other people in the village and some people that were staying in the inn for a long time. For example, Haru soon became friends with Hana-chan, Uo-chan, and Kureno-kun. Among these people he felt a strange sense of déjà vu, that he simply could not shake; he often felt as if something was being kept from him.

However, Haru spent most of his time alone. He knew that people often regarded "the blind-amnesiac man" with pity, and he did not like it. He was around his friends and worked with people upon occasion. However, when he had free time, he would grab his cane and walk, out towards the river in the forest. Haru always felt as if he could almost "see" the water before him, and he listened to it babble. It seemed to soothe him in a way that nothing else could.

The only thing that truly disturbed him was the strange emptiness he felt in his heart. He somehow knew that it was not because of the loss of his memories as a whole…but rather the loss of the memories of a certain person. Haru always felt like he was missing someone, but he did not know who she was or where she was.

And so the melancholy of his life continued for 10 months…

Haru could feel the summer heat approaching when he stepped outside one evening in early June. It was about seven at night, and the sky was beginning to purple with the on-coming night. Haru could not see it, but he could feel the cooling of the air and the sounds of nocturnal animals coming out and those that basked in the sun returning to their homes.

He walked towards the river, and vowed to return before it got too late. Okami-san, afraid that he was going to be taken advantage of, disliked him being out after dark. When he reached the river, he sat on a large rock near the shore, peacefully zoning out to the sounds of the night and of the river.

He was so deeply meditating that he did not hear the horse approaching.

On the back of the horse sat Rin. She had matured since that awful day. She wore riding britches and an old shirt that Haru had left behind. She felt the need to always have him around her.

Most notably, her long hair was gone. It had been a sacrifice to get down from her tower to save Haru. And, really, it was no sacrifice at all if she was able to see Haru again. Rin had researched a way to save Haru for three months, and had been trying to find him for the other three. It had been a long time, with many starless, lonely nights, but it was all worth it.

She regarded Haru, knowing he would not be able to do the same. Oh, to be in his presence again! Rin swooned. She walked over to him and draped herself over him, but he could not feel her. She whispered closely in his ear the counter spell to his curse, her warm breath hitting the side of his face.

Suddenly, Haru could feel years of memories rush back to him, and he staggered under their weight. He felt a warm woman's body leaning on him. He whispered, "Rin, is that you?"

Rin breathed back, "Yes." She captured his lips with a kiss. They kissed for several long moments passionately.

When they broke apart, Haru said, "I didn't know you loved me too."

"I didn't know that you did," Rin replied.

They remained still in each other's arms for several moments. "I still can't see." Haru said. "I understand if you don't want to be with a man like me. I'll be nothing but trouble. I-!" It was then that Rin began to laugh. Haru said, indignant, "What? I'm being serious here!"

Rin stopped laughing, and wiped a few tears of laughter from her face. "Oh, Haru," she said, "I don't care about that. I will always love you, even when we are old and wrinkled, and you loose all your hair, and I get really saggy. Blind or not, you will always be the same to me." She smiled at him, and kissed his closed eyelids.

As he opened his eyes, he began to say, "Rin-," but then gasped. He could see everything. The river beside him, the green grass below him, and the blackened sky above, all was visible to him now. He looked upon Rin, and was blown away by her beauty. Haru captured her lips and they kissed. When they broke apart he said, "I can see."

Rin said, "I can see that."

The laughed out of joy and Haru said, "I love you Rin."

Rin blushed, and mumbled, "Me too."

Then, they went back to the village to tell every one the good new, the sky awash with stars above them.

The End

Epilogue

Akito was eventually caught for her crimes by the International Witch Federation (IWF), and paid heavily for her crimes. She never cursed or tortured anyone ever again.

Haru and Rin returned to their lordship, and lived to a ripe old age. They had 10 kids (surprise, surprise) and many grandkids. Rin grew saggy, and Haru lost all his hair. They both got slightly more wrinkly.

No one would have it any other way.

END OF RINPUNZEL

Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading (even though it took me forever to finish this). Please review! I'll try to put up another one as soon as possible.

This is the end of this universe... if I write anymore Fairy Tales, it will be in a different one. I hope you enjoy(ed)!